Project UFO. TV Crap or TV Classic?

[Loose Leaf Tea]

Can you help?
Was that old 70's TV show Project UFO any good? I can only vaguely remember watching it and thinking it was AMAZINGLY GOOD. (I was only 11 at the time).

[James]

I remember promos ("It was coming at me like it had a mind of its own!") for Project UFO more than individual episodes. Jack Webb was the executive producer of this NBC series. His influence is most evident in the general one-dimensional style of the program. Ordinary people observe a UFO, the Air Force investigates, mystery ensues. Not much in the way of character development. I imagine that Webb was able to keep his writing expenses down by relying heavily on the Project Bluebook case files. The series has a rushed production style common of many TV shows that were produced at Universal Studios in the 1970s and '80s.

I don't believe Project UFO has aired in syndication or on cable TV since its NBC run. It would be fun to see a few episodes again.

[Loose Leaf Tea]

Thanks for the info, James. I've done a bit of digging on the net and have discovered that the show is now available on DVD, so I might be tempted...
The show was only ever shown once here in the UK, too (I think), and I'm still uncertain whether it was a cash-in of the "Close Encounter" mania of the time or whether it pre-dated the film. Whatever the case, what a good idea for a TV show; a dramatisation of some of the Blue Book cases. I wonder if the idea could be re-visited today, hopefully without resorting to the sensationlaist clap-trap of most UFO-themed stuff on TV.
Wait, what am I saying?
It's all about ratings, stoopid!

[Tommy Allison]

Where is it available on DVD? I did several searches for it, and nobody has it at all. Where can I order it?

[Loose Leaf Tea]

projectufo.911.com have DVD details. DVDcraze has them as well. Seem to be priced around $99. Ouch!

[spookyparadigm]

Everyone always talked about how Kolchak was the main inspiration for the X-Files. But as soon as I saw the show, I immediately remembered Project UFO (though in my head, it was called Project Bluebook), except that it had piss-poor production values and two dull Air Force officers instead of a paranoid Sherlock Holmes and his pretty Dr. Watson.

I'd be curious to watch them again, but not for $100.

[Raccoon]

From memory, didn't the show end with the audience being able to see a non-ET explanation of the "UFO' covered in that show? Kind of like Project Bluebook on TV to make people watching it think, UFO's are a bunch of phoey.